Parker's stock after this fight

Rose for me. I've been critical of Parker, but he was never dominated in any of the rounds. He lost more rounds to Joshua, but most of the rounds were competitive. Didn't get beat up, or dropped. Boxed very well, and made the bodybuilder more passive than most of his usual fights. Maybe his power is more than I thought. I was wondering why Joshua didn't go all out, but I think the Joshua was winded by the bodyshots, and didn't push for a late stoppage.

 

I'd rank him 4th under Povetkin at this stage. I'd be eyeing up Tony Bellew or someone outside the top 5 but within the top 10. No ones going to take him seriously if he fights and knocks out a nobody. Needs to stay relevant because that unification was forgettable.

 

Same to me always thought he would struggle getting into range.

AJ saw Fury fight and new to keep
Him on the end of a jab.


I'm not sure he will ever have the tools to deal with a good big man.

 

Raised, but I always knew he was good. Parker is very underrated and may end up being the 2nd best after AJ.

 

My only criticism is he should have been more on the front foot and in the range for the last few rounds, but other than that there wasn't much in it and the ref and judges were never giving him anything anyway. If he'd won the last two rounds 10-8 the fix was still in. Overall he exposed Joshua somewhat as the lumbering flat foot we suspected but on the other never took the wind out of him which he needed to do to get close to a stoppage. It was close enough to say if the fight was in Parker's backyard he'd be capable of the decision.

 

It was a stock down night based on reading.

Joshua didn’t seize the momentum from Wilder and Parker did not risk enough to win

The ref was awful and the judging was off.

 

Parker thoroughly disappointed me, for all his teams talk of AJ’s chin I thought he’d at least give it a good go and we’d see a proper tear up. He gave it a half hearted effort during 2/3 of the middle rounds

Overall I thought he looked content to be able to last the 12 rounds, surrender his belt, take the money and run home to New Zealand.

His mannerisms at the end and lack of any kind of looks of disappointment only went some way to confirming that for me.

 

As a Wilder fan obviously my position has been " he can get ktfo" no matter who you bring up that isn't Wilder. That said, Parker can still get knocked the **** out if he likes.

The only thing that changed was I used to not wonder about his chin, then he brought it up, and I don't reckon he reacted to AJ what like he's a 21st century Marciano. He ain't got the chin he said he does. Outside of that JP is still JP. Bottom of the top.

He should fight Ortiz, Whyte, or Pov....or Fujimoto.

 

He lost the fight, but he was at no point outclassed and the referee didn't help either Parker or the spectacle much. Joshua did just enough but there wasn't a lot in most of the rounds and the official scoring doesn't really reflect that.

His stock stays about the same for me and I agree that he may struggle to land fights for a couple of years. Who needs him?

 

Right. A big step back like every loss is.

If you think about it, he cannot get into a mandatory type position for what, 1 to 1.5 years? Longer? Maybe around fall 2019 if he stays busy?

He'll come back against a B grade heavy like most guys do that lose. No hitters and no cutie pies. More like a face first plodder. But will that even happen in 2018? And having a major impact on his earnings---which will only be moderate until he gets a belt back.

But Joshua holds 3 belts and fights 2x per year. Wilder 1 belt and 2x per year. They have already used up 50% of this years' title defenses.

 

He’s a top 3 heavyweight. He may find it difficult to get some fights now though, as he would likely be seen as a high risk, low reward fight. I’m sure Whyte would fight him though, as he’s up for fighting anyone.

I’m confident though that over time he works his way into those mandatory positions.